Written in 2003: At
villages and whistestops across northern B.C., the little
stations of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway once provided a
connection with the outside world. I had believed there was just
one left – the Kwinitsa Station that was moved about 70 km. west
and restored to provide a museum building on the Prince Rupert
waterfront (ironically, not far from the main
GTPR station). Then, one day in the winter of 1998 when I
was in Kitwanga looking at totem poles and old churches (as part
of my Canada book travelling), I came
across this station, towed away a little distance from the
railway tracks onto a bare patch of ground along the road,
roughly boarded up and scrawled over with graffiti. It burned
down in 2003 – when I went through Kitwanga in June, there was
still a pile of burned boards and metal on the ground across the
road from St. Paul's Church. I subsequently discovered that an
identical station at Dunster,
southeast of McBride, still exists in good condition – the
community has restored it very close to the tracks – so it
qualifies as the least-altered of all the small GTPR stations in
BC.

Kitwanga Station in 1967,
photo by Sharon Negraiff

(2003 continued): These
are Type 'E' stations; according to Hal Kalman's "History of
Canadian Architecture," vol. 2 page 483, more than two-thirds of
the Grand Trunk Pacific's stations were built to this plan.
"Almost all were placed on the north side of the track with the
waiting-room end towards the east (probably so that the
uninsulated buildings could take advantage of the morning sun)."
On the prairies, Kalman wrote, the GTP laid out all its towns on
a uniform plan, like the CPR and the Canadian Northern railways
before it.

There is one other station I know of, slightly larger than
these ones, at Fort Fraser, now moved and renovated, with stucco
siding and new windows in new positions, as the Last Spike Pub.

************

From Jonathan Esar, 2018: I was wondering
if you could help identify this GTR wooden frame . I’ve seen
others but not in this font.

From Lorne Wasylishen, 2015: I bought this at an online
auction in Waterloo Indiana (amazing how much of our stuff ended
up in the USA) and it now hangs, securely locked to the wall in
the Smithers station. All original with wavy glass, a picture of
Moose Lake B.C at Redpass Junction (45miles west of Jasper)
where the GTP diverged northwest towards Prince Rupert and the
Canadian Northern continued southwest to Vancouver. I managed to
acquire another with a slightly different style of frame
containing a picture of a Saskatchewan wheat field from a lady
in Nova Scotia, It has new glass and mat board due to some
damage , there is no provenance on either item. From what I
could find out these were hung in various stations along the GTP
line to give travellers an idea of what the rest of the country
looked like. There is a query about these frames on the GTP page
from Gilbert in Timmins Ontario, 2009. If you still have his
contact info perhaps you can alert him.

From Steve Barnett, 2015: I would like to share some
photos of a GTP switch lock and key, (and you have my permission
to post on your web site). GTP artifacts are quite rare, and in
my quest to search for a GTP lock, I was quite surprised that it
not only took 26 years of waiting, but that there also were few
or no photos of GTP switch keys and locks to be found anywhere
that I could use as reference material.

The switch key is numbered 161 and shows quite a lot of wear
from opening many switch locks during it's lifetime. The lock is
in working order and I believe it may have been made by the
Robert Mitchell Company of Montreal.

In speaking with other collectors, I raised the question
wondering why such few locks from this line exist. It was
thought that many were turned in for scrap and the brass was
used during WWI to make artillery shells, ammunition and other
brass items needed during that period.

********************

From Peter Newman, 2014: I thought that I would share a
link to a web site I recently created. It features 75
professionally restored slides taken in Canada during the final
days of steam / first days of diesels. The photographer was the
late Del Rosamond. I think you'll find his images remarkable for
their content and quality. In the last three weeks,
my embedded counter shows over 10,000 visitors. I hope that
you'll feel free to share this link with anyone / groups that
might enjoy site.

From Larry Tallon, 2014: My father was, I think, was one
of the first operators stationed at Tyee. He worked for CN for
forty years and died at the Age of 63 in 1957. This means he was
sent out from Ottawa around 1917. I have a picture of him
sitting in front of the station. Would you have any access to CN
records about this? I have the original equipment they sent with
him. Typewriter, adding machine, practice key and a gold
Hamilton watch. I don't know exactly what to do with it all. Is
there a society for its preservation? I have no one to hand it
down to and don't want to sell it.

From Dirk Mendel, 2013: The
Penny Station in 1961. That's me under the arm of my dad, and I
was born in Penny!

From John Leybourne, 2012:
In 1919 my father Fred Leybourne and his brother Lance had both
just returned from France after WW1. Their uncle Ed
Chesley was a prospector and railway man and had land in the
area. Fred and Lance decided to go to BC from Ontario to
homestead probably to recover from the effects of their wartime
service. They had a little cabin just across from the
station in Shames [3rd stop west of Terrace]. I don't know
how long they lasted but they both returned to Ontario.

Below, a photo of a
construction locomotive and crew from John Leybourne....

***

From Lorne Wasylishen,
Smithers, 2011: I have in my possession a CNR station
clock and need information to identify which station it came
from. If anyone has pictures or memories of what the Kwinitsa
station clock (or any station clock) looked like please contact
Michael and he can forward the information to me.

Earlier note:
Pelham Hardcastle was the last permanent operator working in the
Kitwanga station, he was later promoted to a a train dispatcher
and is now retired in Alberta. There were some temporary people
there after him before the station was shut down in 1985 when
CTC came in. Between the shutdown and the station being moved I
know two railroaders who were rummaging in there and found two
brass GTP spittoons. One has since been lost in a house fire and
I am presently trying to track down the other. I'm trying to
collect photos of all the stations from Redpass Jct. to Prince
Rupert, not even close yet but making progress.

From Robert McDonald, Port
Townsend, 2008: I got a copy of CN Western Stations
(2002), and was irked to learn there officially no such thing as
a "Type E station." Had to go back and change my photo
options. Neither the GTP nor the CNR sanctioned that
designation. The correct designation is Plan
100-152. There were eight Plan 100-152 stations on the
Smithers Division, Skeena Subdivision.

Update, 2008: Just a
note to say "Hello!" and let you know there is an update to my
CN stations blog entries.

From
Robert Frear, 2011: This was at Eddy, B.C., about 7 mi
east of McBride. I remember this Station was still
standing in about '63, but the CNR burned it down shortly
thereafter. Too bad I was so young and foolish and rather
ignorant back then, otherwise it would be still be in Eddy, as I
am yet...

Note from Robert McDonald:
You have a wonderfully interesting web site filling in the nooks
and crannies that historians overlook in their broad brush
ramblings. My family lived in PR from 1957 to 1959. Being an
avid railroad fan, I got to the point of frequently riding
locomotives on the Skeena Subdivision. My last ride was in
November of 1959, on the passenger train. We made a stop at
Amsbury. All 14 stations on the Skeena Sub were identical, and
did reside on the north side of the track, except Tyee. Grand
Trunk applied to BC Government for water rights for their steam
engines. Amsbury was identified on Water Rights file 0127384, 13
May 1937; name confirmed 4 October 1951 on 103 I. The Grand
Trunk Pacific, later CNR, obtained their water from this creek,
which is at the Amsbury Station. How sad to see of their demise,
burned in 1963. Progress. Hope you enjoy the photo.

Photo taken looking east at CNR Station - Tyee, Mile
Post 92.8. August 7, 1957. Highway 16 is just to the
left off frame. I believe the nearby Ecstall River was
the source for the water tank – Robert McDonald.

Note from Judy Tidball, 2009:
Our little family moved from Blue River to Kwinitsa in 1974 when
our daughter was three years old. We lived there till she was in
Grade 3. We have many happy memories from Kwinitsa, and met a
lot of great people. One couple that we met, who lived in Prince
Rupert at the time, ended up being the last residents of
Kwinitsa. The family who looked after the station prior to us
moved to Penny BC (in between McBride and Prince George)

The CN made a lot of improvements in the old building while we
were there, put in propane lanterns and even a propane fridge,
and the B&B (bridges and buildings) crew was out doing
maintenance often. We didn't miss having electricity or running
water, and sure didn't miss the crowds or traffic of the city.
Our neighbours in the winter were the patrolmen who drove in
front of the trains to make sure there were no snowslides. This
was a real danger in the winter due to the snow/rain cycle of
the weather in that area, and also because of the close
proximity of mountain/railway/highway/river. The remainder of
the year, our closest neighbour was five miles away at Telegraph
Point.

My former name is Judy McInnis, and I was the wife of Ray
McInnis, telegraph operator for Kwinitsa railway station. My
personal email address is jtlabradors@gmail.com.

Note from John Rinaldi, 2007: When we came to Canada in
1952 ( I was five years old) we lived in that Kwinitsa station
for a few days while my dad ( Richard Rinaldi ) was making
arrangements to transfer to Telegraph Point, just a few miles
from Kwinitsa. My dad worked for the CN for 35 years and for
seven years of that we lived in Dunster, B.C. (about 25 miles
east of McBride). I have fond memories of living in that Grand
Trunk station, which by the way was still there in 1988 and may
still be. We lived in about 10 different places on the CN
system. The last Grand Trunk station we lived in (just after we
left Dunster) was at Amsbury, just out of Terrace, B.C. We left
there in 1963, when the CN had their big station shutdown. A sad
time for many class E Grand Trunk stations. The station at
Amsbury was burnt in 1963, along with many others.

Note from Wainwright, Alberta,
2004: Roy at www.railpark.org
maintains a site related to railway history and the Main Street
program there.

Note from Kent Sedgewick, November 2003: There is a Type
"E" station in Prince George at the Railway Museum, relocated
from Penny, east of PG. Another, 6 km west of Entwhistle,
Alberta, converted to a house.

Kent Sedgewick's photos from the 1970s and 1980s of old GTP
stations are on-line at the Fraser
Fort George Regional Museum site. (If this link path
doesn't work, click on the home
page, then follow Online Exhibits-Settlers Effects-Prince
George-The Crossroads-The GTP 1915-1965-pages 10 to 12). He has
further photographs of vanished and vanishing towns and
buildings in the area on the UNBC
site.

Note from Pete Amyoony, 2004:
Three of us in Dunster have been working on a Community
Web Site and it is finally up on the net. It is
about all things in the community and includes some pictures of
the Dunster GTP station in all stages from 1920's to the present
time. The site is a work in progress and we hope to have more
pictures of the station up soon.

Note from Jeff Henricks, 2004:
There remain no less than 15 of these stations (the GTP, plan
“A” or type E) in Alberta. All built by the GTP.
Only one, remains on site. That of Park Gate Alberta (very
poor condition and beyond the words “derelict”). I believe
there may still be a couple others I have yet to find.
In BC, there remain no less than 3. Those mentioned on
your website. I understand there may be a couple more that
have been moved or relocated. The one in Dunster certainly
looks good sitting near the tracks.

(Written by Michael Kluckner 2002)

The modest, ramshackle Canadian National
Railway station on the Prince Rupert waterfront (sketched above
in 1997) was in fact the terminus of a vast national railway
network, the Grand Trunk Railway--the third of the federally
chartered Canadian transcontinental railway systems from the a
century ago. Although the station was to have been designed by
the legendary architect Francis M. Rattenbury, connected with a
luxurious hotel in the midst of a thriving port and city, in
reality the station appears to have been the work of an
anonymous CNR designer, supervised by General Manager A.E.
Warren and Engineer H.A .Hixon of Winnipeg. (Thanks to Sue Rowse
for research.)

Canadian National Railways runs its Skeena service from this
station. It is an immensely scenic run, but regrettably doesn't
generate enough traffic or revenue to pay for the refurbishment
of the station or the waterfront. Like the City of Prince Rupert
itself, rail travel in Canada has fallen on hard times. Prince
Rupert has been in an economic tailspin for a decade or more,
with the decline of the fishing and forest industries. Its
population has dropped and real-estate values are shrinking. But
there is talk of offshore oil and gas development, as
controversial as it is potentially lucrative. It will be
interesting, if any of us live long enough, to see the impact on
the north of CN's takeover/buy out of the provincially owned BC
Rail, announced by the provincial government in November, 2003.

Map collection of Smithers Museum

Although much of Smithers's business district is now focused
along the highway, the old Grand Trunk Pacific station is
well-restored, with "the beanery" an excellent cafe. I was so
impressed by this view along the tracks, looking west--it seemed
to encapsulate all the promise of the Grand Trunk in the years
before the First World War, of new land and opportunities with
the new northern terminus at Prince Rupert not far away, and
productive agricultural land along the Bulkley River, such as
the fields near Quick,
attracting new settlers.

Note from Ron Wheeler, 2008:
I grew up in Smithers, B.C.. In the late 50,'s, CNR
converted to diesel Power Locomotives and had to change the
tracks to a heavier RAIL to accommodate them. When this
conversion was completed, we saw the last of our beloved Steam
Powered Engines. They used to change Engines in Smithers
and take the un-hooked engine into the Round House for service
and repairs. Now, the Round House is gone, along with
the Steam driven Turn-Table, the Sand Pit, the water tower, and
everything else. Nothing's left except the passenger terminal,
which seems to be kept up in its original condition.

I am an HO Scale model railroader and I am trying to find out
all the information on the description of the Steam Locos that
pulled our Passenger trains from Prince George to Prince Rupert,
changing Engines in Smithers. Who manufactured them, and
when? What was their configuration, IE: 2-6-2 or 0-8-0 or
4-8-4, or what? I believe they were Oil Fired. (we
kids were always taken up to the engine, during a trip, to see
the engineer and fireman hard at work, bouncing around on the
rails at top speed).

I would appreciate any information you have that would help me
with my research!

***

Written 2003: As I
understand it, "The Beanery" was the universal name for Canadian
National canteens/coffee shops along the line – does anyone know
of a good written source or memoir about them, or can anyone
provide some anecdotes? Also read the Blue
River site.

Although Smithers's
station is the most dramatically sited, my vote for prettiest
station goes to McBride. Recently restored, with an excellent
"beanery," it is an absolute gem. According to The Robson
Valley Story by Marilyn Wheeler (McBride Robson Valley
Story Group, 1979, p. 132), the original McBride station burned
in 1918, and was immediately replaced by this graceful
structure, by an unknown architect.

Update from Pete Amyoony, 2008: The
McBride Station is under the direction of the Village of McBride.
The station has been mostly renovated (new roof about ten years
ago and most of the interior has been totally done over. The
exterior is well kept with new paint and platforms which are
wheelchair accessible

The main lobby/waiting room has been completely renovated as close
to the original blueprints as possible. A large area is now "the
Whistle Stop Gallery" where a a non-profit society composed of
artists and crafters have filled the space with local arts and
crafts. These range from the expensive to the very reasonable
priced smaller nick-knacks so there is something in everyone's
price range. There are many local paintings, wood carvings, needle
work and quilts, notions, natural salves, souvenirs, etc. It hires
students in the summer and thus creates local jobs. Throughout the
entire station are many pictures of the old days around the
station, rail yards and local area as well as memorabilia from
days gone by. On the outside walls of the baggage area are two
murals by local artist Matthew Wheeler. One includes a copy of the
original blueprints of the station and layout of the yards.

Another large part of the interior( the original Beanery) has been
done over into a beautiful and cozy restaurant now called "Beanery
2" All the food is "home cooking" with lots of local
ingredients and it also serves as the "McBride version of
Starbucks" with all the varieties of coffee, cappuccino, etc. The
restaurant also has an internet connection and computer available
for folks from out of town. It is a very popular meeting place for
many of the locals - just like the old days!!

A small area between the Beanery2 and the waiting room is
dedicated to the Tourist Information Booth on a year round basis.
It has many brochures, videos, etc for visitors to learn more
about the area. The director of tourism is currently (Mar 2008)
working on an updated McBride website - www.mcbride.ca

In the summer, just outside the station is a beautiful gazebo with
benches to relax and enjoy the views all around. Next to the
gazebo is a CN caboose totally renovated by a local
railroader.

The gardens and many planters around the station really give it a
new life and make it a welcome stopover point for thousands of
tourists every year. The Via passenger train "The Skeena" stops
for a while on some trip so the passengers can nip into the
Beanery2 for a coffee or a snack.

Just inside the main door from Main street are two very well kept
public washrooms.

The station has once again become a main feature in the life of
McBride and the Robson Valley both for locals and also for those
passing through.

By the way, Marilyn Wheeler is just about to go to print with a
very expanded and updated version of The
Robson
Valley Story. There are almost double the number of pages
from the first edition and is a wonder treasure trove of local
history. Their contact is www.sternwheelerpress.ca

Reinhard, an
antiques dealer in Victoria, sent along photos of a silver
tray from the Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton (which still
exists), from the time when it was a GTP hotel.

Note
from Denise Friedrich, 2007: It is a rainy day here in
Germany ....and I've decided to 'dust' in the room downstairs
! I am English and live in Germany.... I have some playing
cards here and for years I have been wondering where they really
come from. In the days before internet this wasn't so easy.
The cards are in a lovely wooden case... on one side it says
Souvenir and on the other there are 3 playing cards painted on it.
Two packs of cards. One pack has had some wear and tear.... but
the other pack is in really good condition with a gold edge. I
wonder how old these cards might be. I have enclosed a JPG and do
hope you can open the file. The Ace of Hearts has a portrait of
H.R.H. Prince Rupert and there is also a picture of the S.S.Prince
Rupert along with many other scenic pictures which I guess are
from the routes on the way. Jasper Park, MT Robson, Moose River
Forks. I wonder if you could tell me a little bit more about these
cards. I bought them years ago in Portobello Market in London.

From
MK: as the GTP was bankrupt by 1917 or so, and then
became part of the Canadian National system, the cards would
have been published during the First World War.

Note
from Gilbert, Timmins Ontario 2009: I have a picture
frame from the "Grand Trunk Pacific Railway" (poster size). I
have had it for many years and was wandering if you could tell
some history behind it. There is only the frame, no
picture, but for some reason it has followed me all of my
life. The frame seems to be made of oak and very old but
aside from that I have no idea where it would have been hung
back in the day. In any case if you could shed some some light
on this or know someone who might I would greatly appreciate it